2 The Doctor Does Domestic
by occultmagic
Summary: The Doctor and Rose take Amber and Jack to twenty first century London for a bit of a break from saving the world. When things go wrong, the Doctor is almost grateful, anything to get Jackie Tyler off his case![Part 2 COMPLETE][Boom Town up to series end]
1. Heading Home

If you are reading this and haven't read the first installment (1. Amber) please read that first! This won't make any sense otherwise.

And I'm probably not going to be able to update this for a while because I am not going to be at home for nearly two weeks... I will try but no promises!

* * *

"Why can't we go back?" Rose asked.

"And face your mother? No ta!" The Doctor said.

"Doctor!"

"Come on, Doc, what could be so bad about her mother?" Jack asked.

"Have you ever met Jackie Tyler?" the Doctor asked him.

"Err, no, but…"

"Then you can't comment."

"But Doctor, Amber and Jack have never seen twenty first century England – it could be interesting for them." Rose said.

"A backwards little human colony? What could be interesting about that?" The Doctor said.

Rose put her hands on her hips.

"Ok, sorry, I know it's your home – but of all the interesting places in the Universe, we spend more time on that council estate in London than I care to go into!"

"Look, I didn't leave off very well with Mickey last time I saw him, and I just want a chance to put things right." Rose said. By the look on the Doctor's face, this was a double reason to avoid going, but he put on a forced smile.

"Mickey the Idiot? Really Rose…"

"He might be an idiot, but we owe him our lives! He saved you, Harriet and me from the Slitheen!"

"Harriet, you and _I_," the Doctor corrected.

"Whatever…"

"There was another lovely lady travelling with you back then?" Jack asked.

"No," the Doctor said, "and I doubt Harriet would be to your taste, a bit prim and proper for you."

"Nothing wrong with prim and proper, and I have a habit of bringing out the worst in people anyway." Jack said with a smutty grin.

"Let's not go there," Rose suggested, "but we could go and visit Harriet you know – see how she's getting on."

"I don't do that," the Doctor said.

"I know, _domestic_," Rose said, in an uncanny imitation of the Doctor, "But I'm human, and I do – I'd like to see my Mother again. You don't have to come – you could sit in the TARDIS, I don't think she'd mind too much."

"I said no," the Doctor said.

"What is your problem?" Rose snapped. Jack backed away and left the room, knowing this was likely to get nasty quite quickly. Amber also followed his lead.

"I'm not the one with the problem!" the Doctor said, "who's the one who wants to go to London when there is a whole universe out there to explore!"

"Look, I feel guilty, ok? Can you comprehend that with that oversized alien brain of yours? I feel guilty for leaving Mickey behind, for treating him the way I did!"

"He's not worthy of that guilt," the Doctor said a little more gently.

"How _dare_ you say that!" Rose fumed, "Mickey was a nice bloke! He was good to me!"

"He's useless!" the Doctor retorted, "Mickey the idiot, not Mickey the wonderful, remember."

"He _loved_ me!" Rose yelled.

"Then why didn't he come along when asked him to?" the Doctor shouted back. A deathly silence followed.

"You… you asked him to come along?" Rose asked. The Doctor was facing his console, toying with the controls, but he nodded. "When?"

"Just before we left after stopping the Slitheen," the Doctor said.

Rose was shocked. So shocked she couldn't even speak. The Doctor had offered to do something domestic… for her?

"What exactly does this message from Mickey say?" the Doctor asked, relenting a little.

"Just that, he's sorry for avoiding me, and wondered if we could catch up some time the world isn't about to end."

"Do you really want to go?"

"Yeah, really."

"_Really_ really?"

"_Really _really," Rose said.

The Doctor contemplated it for a moment, then smiled.

"Ok then, London 2006-ish, here we come."

Rose smiled as the central column of the TARDIS began to move, making its unique sound as it took them from wherever they were in time and space to her home.

* * *

The TARDIS had been stationary for twenty minutes when the knock came on the door.

"Get that would you," Jack said to the Doctor.

"It'll be Mickey, why would I want to talk to him? You get it!"

"I'm busy working on the extrapolator! You get it!"

"Oi, who's in charge here?"

"Hey you two, Doctor? Jack Flash? I can hear you in there, open the door!" came the muffled voice of Mickey. He rammed on the door a little harder.

"Where's Rose?" the Doctor asked.

"Gone for a quick shower."

"Quick?"

"If there's one thing I've learnt about women, it's that they don't know the definition of the word 'quick'," Jack said.

"Who's knocking?" Amber asked, walking into the room.

She had tied her long blue hair up and donned her jacket again. She was also wearing a utility belt which held at least three different guns and a knife.

"Are either of you going to get that?" She asked.

Jack and the Doctor looked at each other, then shook their heads.

"Children," Amber commented, then went to get the door.

Mickey was preparing to knock again, even harder this time. He figured if he annoyed them enough they would eventually give in and open the door. He could hear them both in there, arguing about who was going to let him in.

He raised his fist and was about to bring it crashing on the door when it opened.

"Can I help you?" Asked a woman Mickey didn't recognise.

She was leaning against the door frame, one arm raised above her head, the other resting on her hip. Her eyes were orange, her hair blue and in the centre of her forehead was a blue gemstone, which said to Mickey 'Alien'. He felt himself flush a little – she was gorgeous.

"Errr…" He mumbled, unable to find the words.

"Mickey, right?" the woman asked. Mickey managed to nod, and she stepped aside.

"Where's Rose?" Mickey asked, once inside the TARDIS.

"Having a shower, should be back soon – she left to have it twenty minutes ago!" the Doctor said.

"Knowing Rose she'll be gone another half hour!" Mickey said, "What you doing back in London anyway? Rose said you were coming, she didn't say why."

"We needed a break from saving the world!" the Doctor said, "Thought we'd come back and visit some old friends."

"Doesn't sound much like you," Mickey said.

"That's because it's Rose talking," Jack said.

"Figures," Mickey said.

He stood and watched them for a while. All three seemed to be working. The Doctor was messing with the controls and wires, just like he always was (though this time he wasn't wearing a ridiculous flashing bike light, which presumably served some greater purpose Mickey was too stupid to see, that or the Doctor liked looking like an idiot), Jack was playing with the extrapolator they had picked up on their last visit to Earth, and the new girl was tinkering with a small box.

"She's gorgeous, isn't she?" Jack said, leaning over to talk to him quietly.

It was a statement, not a question so Mickey didn't answer. He just nodded in agreement.

"Well don't go getting any ideas, she's _mine_," Jack said, pointing to himself to emphasise the point.

She walked past, engrossed in her little box, poking at it with a real screwdriver, not one of the sonic variety, yet somehow managing to step over all the precariously placed wires and tools. Mickey didn't know she'd only been on the ship for about an hour, and had anyone said she had, he wouldn't have believed them.

As she walked past Jack he grabbed her arm and placed his free hand on her shoulder.

"Need any help with that sweetheart?" he asked, caressing her shoulders slightly. She looked up at him, then kicked his shin, grabbed his arm and twisted it up behind his back.

"Don't touch," she said into his ear, then let him go, pushing him away from her roughly before walking off.

Mickey raised an eyebrow in Jack's direction.

"Yeah, well, she doesn't know it yet, but she will be!" he said, rubbing his wrist and limping slightly.

"You don't stand a chance!" Mickey said.

"Oh and you could do better, Mickey the idiot?" Jack challenged.

"Yeah, reckon I could," he said, straightening up a little.

"Go on then," Jack said, gesturing towards Amber, who had just sat down inside what looked like a space ship, only very small – just big enough for her to fit inside. Mickey adjusted his coat, then walked over.

The new girl had placed her screwdriver and strange box thing inside her ship and stood up again by the time Mickey walked over, climbing over the wires and toolboxes. She had a rag over her shoulder in a very mechanic-like fashion, and was opening a panel on the outside, pulling out wires and reattaching them in different places.

Mickey took a deep breath then tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, um, I don't think we've been introduced, I'm Mickey – what's your…"

Amber turned round and placed one of her many guns against his head. She flicked her thumb along the side of it, and it made a distinct loading sound.

"Don't waste your time," she said, then turned back to her ship.

Mickey turned to see Jack laughing and felt very annoyed and more than a little embarrassed.

"Meet Amber Mickey. Did Jack neglect to mention she's an assassin from the year one million, four hundred thousand, two hundred and seventy-two?" the Doctor said.

"Might have done, yeah," Mickey said, watching Amber with a wary eye.

* * *

"Are we going then?" Rose asked, walking into the room, hair still slightly damp, dressed in her twenty first century finery. "Mickey!" she said on seeing him, then rushed over to hug him.

"Hey Rose!" he said, a little awkward but happy.

"How you doing?" she asked, "How's things with Tricia?"

"Going alright, yeah," Mickey said uncertainly.

"Good, I'm glad," Rose said earnestly, punching him in the arm affectionately.

"Right then!" the Doctor said, "Are we off? Coming Amber?"

"If I'm invited," Amber replied.

"Sure you are!" the Doctor said, "Gotta have you around to keep Jack under control!"

Amber let that comment slide, he was a Time Lord after all, he could say stuff like that and get away with it. She headed for the TARDIS door.

"Well, you can't go out like that, lose the weapons for a start and, lovely as you look, your fashion sense is light years ahead of this lot, literally."

Amber rolled her eyes, but dropped her utility belt to the floor, looked up and down at the clothes Mickey, Rose and Jack were wearing, then changed her own so they matched them. Her trousers switched to become dark blue jeans, her silver top became a white tank top and her jacket changed from the plastic-like material to leather. Once finished, she ignored Jack's appreciative glance and Mickey's 'How did she do that?' and went for the door.

"Ah, Amber…" the Doctor said, and tapped the centre of his forehead.

The assassin sighed and changed her face so the gemstone was no longer there.

"So… where are we going?" Mickey asked.

"To visit the In-law," the Doctor said, "Only kidding!" he added at Mickey's horrified face.

Jackie Tyler shrieked and launched herself at Rose when she walked through the door. She only broke away at Jack's comment of, "Aww, how sweet."

"What happened to that God-awful Doctor of yours?" Jackie asked Rose, looking up at Jack with admiration, "Must say your taste has _drastically _improved!"

Rose laughed.

"He's trailing behind with the rest of the crew! Mum, this is Jack, _Captain _Jack Harkness."

Jack took Jackie's hand in his.

"Jackie Tyler, I've heard so many nice things about you from Rose!" he said, "Can't say the same thing of the Doctor, but I don't trust the opinion of a man who rates bananas as one of his top favourite things in the universe!" he kissed the back of her hand and Jackie Tyler giggled like a school girl.

"Pleasure to meet you," she said.

"Pleasure's all mine!"

"Oh don't you start _Captain_," Mickey said as he walked through the door, followed closely by Amber and the Doctor.

"Hi there, Jackie!" the Doctor said, trying to stay jolly for Rose's sake. His only reward was a scowl.

"So, you lot aliens as well then?" Jackie asked.

"No ma'am," Jack said, "Human, born and bred, just from a couple thousand years in the future."

"Oh, that's nice," Jackie said. She turned an enquiring glance towards Amber, but didn't get a reply. Jackie looked at her disdainfully, making Rose laugh.

"That's Amber, we only picked her up a few hours ago, so none of us know her too well, but she's an alien." She said.

"Well, what are you all up to today then, not just visiting me I can imagine – got a baddy to stop or something?" Jackie asked.

"Actually no," the Doctor said, "We're on holiday!"

"We thought we'd visit Harriet," Rose said, "You know, catch up!"

"Who is this Harriet you keep talking about?" Jack asked.

"An old friend," Rose said cryptically, "You coming Mickey? I'm sure Harriet would like to meet the young man responsible for firing a missile at her!"

"Err, I'd better not…" Mickey began.

"Nonsense!" the Doctor said, "The more the merrier!"

"Would you like to come, Mrs Tyler?" Jack asked politely.

"Ms, and no, I've got shepherds pie to make, taking one up to Nancy upstairs later," Jackie said.

"Since when have you cooked for Mrs Wellings?" Rose asked.

"Since my daughter decided to swan off into space for a year!" Jackie retorted, "She was a shoulder to cry on, bless the old dear, and I don't like politicians anyway – they think they're all that…" Jackie said. That decided, everyone else took their leave and began to wander through London.

"Politicians?" Jack asked.

"Yup," the Doctor said, "Harriet Jones, current Prime Minister of England."

"You know the _Prime Minister_?" Jack asked.

"First name terms!" the Doctor said with a grin. "Nice girl, not your sort of nice though,so don't get any ideas!"

"Damn," Jack cursed, but Rose could tell from his voice that he was only messing around, which was good – she doubted Harriet could handle the more flirtatious side of Jack.

* * *

"How do you intend to get inside Downing Street?" Mickey asked when they got a bit closer, "Just walk up to the door and knock?"

"Yup!" the Doctor said, "Something like that."

"That's never going to work." Mickey said, "You'd have more luck getting Jack Flash to charm his way in."

"No good if there are male guards," Amber said.

"Gender has never stopped him before!" Rose said with a snort of laughter.

"Well, there's going to be no need to prove that," the Doctor said, taking out a wallet with a seemingly blank sheet of paper in it.

"How is a blank piece of paper going to get you into Downing Street?" Mickey asked.

"It's slightly psychic paper," Jack said.

"It shows people whatever you want them to see!" Rose added, linking arms with the Doctor and walking with him to the front door.

Jack offered his arm to Amber, earning him a swift smack on her way past. He looked vaguely disappointed, but the expression faded as he offered his arm to Mickey. Mickey took one long, horrified look at him, then walked quickly past.

Jack shook his head, then followed on behind.

"Do you have an appointment?" the guard asked the Doctor.

"Nope!" he said, grinning cheerfully, "We're just old friends passing by – thought we'd drop in for a visit!"

"Do you have any identification?"

The Doctor flashed his slightly psychic paper.

"The Doctor, that's me – I work for UNIT, United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. This is Rose Tyler, my associate, Captain Jack Harkness of the American Air Force."

Rose smiled and Jack gave the guards a toothy grin, before briefly holding up his badge, not long enough for them to realise it was more than fifty years old.

"And at the back there is Mickey Smith, my computer technician, and Amber, Rose's body guard!" The Doctor continued.

Amber gave him a brief look, but straightened up and folded her arms in a bodyguard like manner. The guards still looked uncertain.

"Look, just tell Harriet that the Doctor and Rose have popped by for a visit, you'll see!" Rose said.

The two armed guards glanced at each other, then one nodded and the other walked off into Downing Street. The remaining guard glanced at the group before him uncertainly.

"So, you all American?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm a Londoner," Rose said, "So's Mickey."

"And yourself, er, Doctor?" the guard asked, trying to stay friendly.

"I'm from a very long way away," the Doctor said serenely.

"Right…" the guard said uncomfortably. He was saved from any further embarrassment by Harriet running down the corridor to great them.

"Harriet Jones," the Doctor said, "bet you never thought you'd see us again!"

"Well, no not really, but it's ever such a nice surprise! Do come in!" she said, holding the large front door open to them.

"Now there's an offer I can't refuse!" Rose said, and held out her arm for the Doctor. He took it and walked with her into the house, followed by an intrigued Jack, an indifferent Amber and an awe filled Mickey.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last story! please keep them coming!


	2. A Young Old Friend

Hi again, back now so should be back to regular updates!

* * *

"I had it rebuilt exactly the same as before," Harriet said as they walked down the corridors of Downing Street. Rose could certainly see no difference. "It only took a few days – once the chaos was over they got it rebuilt double time. I took office until preparations for an official election could be made, and then was voted in. Never expected it of course, I was most pleasantly surprised!"

"Hope you put those metal walls in again," Rose said, smiling fondly at the memories. What had been so dangerous and terrifying at the time was now just funny, but that was how the Doctor and his lifestyle worked. Always moving on.

"First thing I insisted on." Harriet said with a smile.

They walked up the stairs, heading towards the cabinet room, where they could get some peace to discuss things freely.

"Well, I can't tell any difference," Rose said.

Jack skipped up the rest of the stairs and started randomly poking the wall. Rose and Mickey stared at him blankly, Amber rolled her eyes and the Doctor laughed.

"They haven't installed the plasma screen interactive panels yet Captain." He said.

"Oh… yeah," Jack said, grinning sheepishly.

Harriet raised an eyebrow but she couldn't ask what they were on about until they had some privacy. She couldn't even ask who the dashing young Captain was.

"Well, just down here," Harriet said, "The cabinet room should be empty, we can discuss _business_ in there."

She went to open the door but it burst open before her and a load of children came running out.

"Oh, I forgot, school trip today, from some place in Nottingham I think." Harriet said.

"Prime Minister!" a very exasperated looking teacher said in shock, "I do hope we aren't interrupting anything."

"No, not at all – we were just looking for an empty room, that's all. Thought the cabinet room would be a good place to start!"

"Well, we are just finished, I'll get them all out of your way. Children!" the teacher did a quick head count as the children assembled outside the room.

"Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen. Sixteen – one short, who's not here?" The teacher looked around but all the kids just shrugged. The teacher looked ready to strangle someone. "An exclusive, all boys school for gifted youngsters, you'd think they would have the sense not to run off!"

"Oh, I don't know," the Doctor said, "Sometimes the brainiest people have the least common sense."

"Speaking about yourself there Doctor?" Jack asked with a grin.

"Oi," the Doctor said, "At least I've got brains, you have neither!"

Rose giggled and Mickey looked around nervously, a little embarrassed. Unlike everyone else he would still be around tomorrow.

The teacher was still scanning her eyes over her pupils, trying to remember the missing face. Harriet was smiling at the boys, who looked to be aged from about eight to thirteen. They were all gazing up at her in slight awe.

The Doctor, not a fan of children, teenagers or otherwise (apart from Rose of course), was playing with the computer on the secretary's desk that stood by the door.

"Hello…?" he murmured, and started typing very rapidly.

"What's wrong?" Mickey asked, walking over.

"Someone's hacking the systems…" he said, "Under the name of 'Bad Wolf'."

If Mickey missed the significance of the 'Bad Wolf' he didn't miss the significance of someone hacking the computers. He leaned over the desk and looked down at the screen.

"What are they doing?" Mickey asked.

"I don't know…" the Doctor said, "Not much, just looking around." He frowned very deeply. "But what are they looking for?"

* * *

Amber was about as fond of children as the Doctor and began to wander down the corridors a little. She could still hear the teacher calling names, trying to find the identity of the missing child. She could also hear Rose and Harriet trying to help, and the slight buzz of Jack's watch as he scanned around discretely.

She turned her attention back to the corridor and saw a young boy, who looked to be the age of the older children in the class.

"Found you," Amber murmured to herself, and walked back over to the teacher, to put the poor woman out of her misery.

"Is that the young man you are looking for?" Amber asked, pointing to where the boy was looking at something in the wall.

The teacher jumped slightly at being approached by Amber, but looked down the corridor and sighed with relief.

"Oh, Adam!" she said.

"Adam?" Rose asked, and peered round the corridor.

"Someone's hacking into the computers," the Doctor said, running over, "under the pseudonym of Bad Wolf, and they're doing it from inside Downing Street!"

"Doctor, that's _Adam_!" Rose said, pointing down the corridor.

"You know him?" Harriet asked.

"Yeah, sort of, well not for another couple of years yet." Rose said.

Harriet just nodded as though this were perfectly normal, the teacher stared a little, but shrugged and decided she must have misheard. She turned her attention away from them and back to her pupils.

"Well, if I know Adam, it'll be him hacking the computers," Rose said, then stepped forwards to stop him. The Doctor grabbed her arm.

"No Rose, don't let him see you." He said.

"Why? Against the laws of time or something?" Rose asked.

"No, but that idiot was so weak minded that if he saw you in the future, after seeing you in the past, his head would probably implode!" he said.

Rose would have stuck up for him, but she knew first hand what an idiot he could be, _would_ be.

"Well, he's never met me before," Amber said, then paused to think, "Correction, he won't meet me after. So I'll go tell him to stop, shall I?"

"Go on then!" the Doctor said, grinning. Harriet was shaking her head, thoroughly confused.

"Time Travel," Mickey said to Harriet, "Does your head in."

* * *

Adam Mitchell was almost into the core of the information stored on the Downing Street systems. He grinned smugly to himself. He wasn't doing it for any reason other than to prove he could, what could he possibly want with the dates of the cabinet meetings for the next five years? It was just fun to show his friends that he really was a computer genius. The only thing he was vaguely interested in was the supposed Alien hoax and the real reason why Downing Street was blown up. Adam thought there probably had been real Aliens and they had blown up Downing Street to destroy the bodies.

That or it was Harriet Jones's scam to get into power – how else would a no hope back bencher like her end up running the country?

He was seconds away from retrieving the core when a hand came down in front of his face and pressed a button to terminate the program.

"Bad Wolf?" a female voice asked.

Amber folded her arms and looked sternly down at the teen.

"A school for gifted youngsters? Well you certainly have a gift for getting into trouble in the worst place possible. Did you know that there are armed guards covering every square inch of this building? No? Well, as you walk back to your teacher and travel back home you can spend your time contemplating your behaviour and the fact that the guards here are armed for a reason." Amber said curtly, then twisted him away from the computer and marched him back to his teacher.

Rose and the Doctor ducked out of sight but Jack stood in the corridor, laughing openly.

"You know Amber, you have a way with children." He said.

"Fourteen is hardly what I would call a child," Amber said.

"Even so, you would make a good mother one day." He sauntered over and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You know, I could help you there."

Amber paused as though to contemplate this, then as Jack's hands trailed a little further down her arms and he stepped a little closer, she arched one blue eyebrow, stamped on his foot and smacked him right in the face.

Jack flinched away from her, holding his throbbing jaw, to the sound of the class cheering.

"The pause was a warning, not an invitation," Amber snapped, "Don't Touch!"

She walked away towards the now empty cabinet room with the Doctor and Rose.

"You never learn do you?" Mickey asked Jack.

* * *

"Well, your party has doubled in number since I last saw you," Harriet said, once the door was closed.

"Ah yes, allow me to introduce you to everyone!" the Doctor said, rubbing his hands together. "This is Mickey Smith, you know him already."

"Yes, the young man on the other end of the phone!" Harriet said, and shook Mickey's hand with no hint of dislike visible, which made Mickey relax considerably. He didn't know how the Prime Minister would react to being greeted by the man responsible for blowing her up.

"This is Captain Jack Harkness, from the fifty first century, Earth that is."

"Pleased to meet you ma'am," Jack said, turning on all his usual charm.

"And you, sir," Harriet replied, a hint of blush in her cheeks. "So," she said, turning to the Doctor, "Not only are you an alien, but you also have a Time Machine."

"Yes, that's right – I'll have to give you a guided tour of my ship one of these days!" the Doctor said, grinning away.

"Perhaps," Harriet said, very reserved, "but unlike some people, I don't have all the time in the world. Speaking of which, I have a meeting in ten minutes! What a shame, I was looking forwards to a nice chat!"

"We'll be quick!" Rose said, "Don't want you to be late for your meeting!"

"Of course," the Doctor said, "Oh, and lastly, this is Amber, alien and assassin from the year one million… ish." He decided, not wanting to get his tongue tied trying to recite the exact year.

"Assassin?" Harriet asked.

"Don't worry, she's quite harmless, unless you're Jack." The Doctor said.

"Well, pleased to make your acquaintance," Harriet said, shaking Amber's hand.

Amber smiled softly, but didn't return the greeting with words. She just nodded her head.

"So," Harriet continued once she was sure Amber wasn't going to speak, "What brings you back to Earth? If I had a Time and Space ship twenty first century Earth wouldn't be high on my visiting priorities!"

"Visiting my Mum," Rose said, "so we thought we'd drop by – see how life as Prime Minister is suiting you!"

"Oh it's all very nice," Harriet said, "I'm having such a good time. Hard work of course, but very rewarding."

"Well, the country hasn't collapsed yet, so you must be doing alright!" Rose said with a smile.

"I try my best," Harriet said humbly, "So, can I expect any space ships to be landing in the Thames any time soon?"

"No, I don't think so!" the Doctor said, "We're just here for a bit of a break, we got a bit tired of saving planets!"

"A very noble hobby, saving planets," Harriet said.

"Is that why you landed on Perth then?" Amber asked, "You wanted to save them?"

"Well, yes and no – I don't make a habit of throwing myself into life threatening situations, but they seem to have made a habit of finding me. I've just given up trying to avoid them now." The Doctor said.

"Not this time though," Rose said firmly, "we're just going to go sightseeing, do a bit of shopping, and maybe have dinner with my Mum."

"Dinner?" the Doctor asked, in a voice which said 'No way!'.

"Oh what a lovely idea!" Harriet said, "We should all go! I know a lovely little restaurant just down the road from here. I will be able to get a booking, even on this short notice. Invite whoever you like, on me of course!"

"That would be wonderful!" Rose said.

"Dinner with the Prime Minister," Jack said, "don't think that's an offer you can turn down Doc."

"He's thinking 'aarrggh domestic!' I can tell," Rose said sagely.

"Well, you can go, and I'll stay with Amber and have a look at her ship," the Doctor said.

"Look at my ship? I want dinner!" Amber said, winking subtly at Rose, who grinned.

"Oh, alright then. Can't hurt can it!" the Doctor said, "Just make sure your Mother stays civil, ey?" he turned to Rose.

"She'll behave!" Rose protested, but inside she was smiling.

"Well, that's settled then, dinner at seven?" Harriet asked, "I'll give you the address of the place!"

* * *

"I can't believe you let me talk me into that!" the Doctor said as they left Downing Street, clutching a card for a very fancy sounding restaurant.

"It will be fun!" Rose said.

"Yeah, not every day you get to dine with the Prime Minister!" Jack said.

"You coming Mickey?" Rose asked.

"Nah I don't think…"

"Oh come on! It will be fun – you can bring Tricia along. I promise I'll make him behave, and him!" she said, jerking her thumb in the direction of first the Doctor then Jack.

"Oh alright then, I'll go and find her now," he said, then sprinted off.

"You seem very keen on this Trisha all of a sudden," the Doctor said.

"Yeah, well I want him to be happy!" Rose said firmly, "even if you think he's an idiot."

"You mean you want him to be happy so you don't feel bad?" Jack asked.

The half smile on Rose's face fell. Amber walked up along side Jack.

"There is a thing called tact, and you apparently don't have a lot of it," she said.

"I think I like her," Rose said to the Doctor, smiling a little vindictively.

"I thought you might." The Doctor said.

They walked together back towards Rose's flat, enjoying the cooling day, talking about random things, not really paying much attention to anything other than each other, and the company they shared in.

Jack was teasing Amber and for once not receiving a slap for his efforts. The Doctor and Rose were engaged in a hearty argument about a planet they had visited a while back, when it had only been the two of them travelling together.

They were still chatting merrily when they arrived back at Jackie's flat.

"Mum?" Rose called out, "You there? We've got an invitation to dinner!"


	3. An Old Young Friend

Rose walked straight in to her Mother's flat, leaving the door wide open. The Doctor followed her without hesitation, though Jack and Amber were slightly less comfortable with charging in uninvited.

"Mum?" Rose called again, "Mum, where are you?"

"Probably out shopping or something," the Doctor said cheerfully, and headed straight for the door.

"Oi!" Rose said, "that's not an invitation for you to leave, we're inviting my Mum to this do if you like it or not!"

She smiled coyly at him and the Doctor was powerless to resist.

"Rose Tyler, I can't believe you are making me do domestic…" the Doctor protested feebly.

"Was that a hint of true love and dedication I caught in those words there, Doc?" Jack asked.

The Doctor looked at him balefully and didn't answer.

"I'll take your silence as a yes," Jack said triumphantly.

"Take it how you want," the Doctor said, "I know you're just jealous!"

He grinned at Jack, then went off to find Rose.

"She must be out," Rose said shrugging, leaning against the doorframe to the living room.

"Didn't she say she was going to visit someone?" Amber asked.

"Oh yeah!" Rose said, "She was going to visit old Mrs Wellings upstairs. She's a kind old dear."

"I assume you are talking about Mrs Wellings and not your Mother…" The Doctor said.

"Oi!" Rose said again, and slapped him playfully. "As it happens, I was talking about Mrs Wellings. She's about eighty five, bless her, but she's always looked out for me. Said I reminded her of someone she used to know."

"Well, are we going or what?" Jack asked.

"I'm coming!" Rose said, then skipped in front of everyone and out the door to lead the way.

As they walked, Amber switched her hair from blue to brown.

"What?" she asked as the Doctor and Jack looked at her curiously, "I don't want a rant from some old woman about 'kids these days'!"

"Old women from your time say that?" Rose asked.

"In any time old women say that," Amber said.

"I'd have thought by the year one million they would be radical enough not to care what kids these days were doing!"

"No, because the kids these days are even more radical than they are. Old people will never keep up."

"Watch all this talk of old people!" the Doctor said, "I'm near enough ten times the age of all of you lot put together! I dunno, kids these days…"

Jack laughed, Rose giggled and Amber smiled.

"But you're timeless," Rose said, placing her hand in his. The Doctor beamed adoringly at her.

* * *

Mrs Wellings's flat was two floors above Jackie Tyler's. It was a wonder that an eighty five year old could make it up all those stairs really, but somehow, some way or another, Mrs Wellings managed it.

Rose had known Mrs Wellings almost as long as she could remember. She was a kindly old lady, not one of the cantankerous kind. She always had sweets and other things little girls loved, ready for when Rose would find her way to the front door, crying because some boy had called her a name at school. A little later on she would have chocolate ice cream and a girly film for Rose whenever she had a rough time with a boyfriend. She was also full of sound advice, and always told Rose things would be better before long.

"One day you will be swept off your feet by a mysterious stranger," she used to say.

Well, she had definitely been right about that, Rose thought.

The four of them arrived at the front door and Rose knocked, before letting herself in.

"Mrs Wellings?" she called, "Is my Mum there?"

"Yes I'm here Rose!" Jackie called back, "She alright to come in for a bit Nancy?" she said more quietly.

"Yes fine," an elderly voice said.

"Just a warning – she's probably got the whole gang with her. That Doctor and some new fella, Captain Jack?"

"The one and only…" Amber said dryly, and they made their way into the kitchen.

Rose skipped through the door first, followed closely by Amber, as Jack and the Doctor had dawdled behind, engaged in a discussion about a planet called Austra Lia, where the dominant species looked a lot like Kangaroos. Fotunately, that meant anyone over hearing them just thought they were a bit weird, not a lot weird.

Jackie shot Amber a strange look as she walked into the room with her now brown hair, but thought better than to question it. Mrs Wellings also gave Amber a strange look, but it was a curious one, not a hostile, fearful (or otherwise) one.

"And who might you be?" she asked.

"Amber," Amber replied bluntly.

"And where are you from, dear?"

"A very long way away."

Mrs Wellings didn't seem perturbed by Amber's less than friendly nature. She simply smiled almost knowingly.

"Another world?" She asked, causing Rose and Jackie to frown, and Amber to tilt her head a little in surprise.

"Oh don't look at me like that, I know about things from other worlds, Rose here taught me, a long time ago." Mrs Wellings said.

"Nancy!" Rose exclaimed as the Doctor and Jack walked in.

* * *

"During the last few years of the war and after it ended, Dr. Constantine trained me as a nurse, there was a lot of demand for trained medical professionals after the war and I got a lot of work, enough to buy a house which I turned into a home for the street children of London. I made money through nursing, and through some of the older children working, managed to turn my small safe home into a care centre for orphaned children. It's still running now, the money it brings in pays the rent on this flat." Nancy said.

It was very surreal talking to an eighty year old they had known as a twenty year old only a few weeks ago. It made Rose understand why the Doctor never went back to the places he had been, why he left so quickly after he was done saving the world.

Time continued for everyone else while the Doctor swanned in and out, people grew old while the Doctor stayed as he always was, Timeless.

"I've been looking out for you Rose – I knew if I found you, you would eventually lead me to all three of you," Nancy continued, "I knew when you vanished for a year that you had gone with the Doctor, I suspected the attack on Downing Street was your handiwork, but I knew I had to wait until you had visited my time before I spoke to you, before I got my chance to thank you."

"Well, you are welcome!" the Doctor said with a cheery smile, "And if I may say so, you are still looking very young for your age!"

Amber smiled as the trio reminisced about their time in war-torn England. She didn't have much of clue of what they were on about, but it was nice to listen to. She felt Jackie Tyler was probably thinking something entirely different. Amber's telepathy was no where near refined enough to simply read thoughts, but she could pick up on emotions, and pure venom was exuding from every pore of Jackie Tyler. Amber guessed this had something to do with the Doctor daring to take her baby into Blitz London. However, she at least had the sense to hold her tongue while in Nancy's company.

"How is Jamie?" Rose asked.

"He grew up to be a fine young man, and married a lovely young lady called Sarah. They had two children, but I'm on great-grandchildren now! I have four, three girls, one boy and one more on the way!" Nancy beamed so proudly, it bought a little of the twenty-year-old that Rose had known forward.

"That's so lovely," Rose said, a dreamy smile coming over her features.

"Don't get any ideas!" the Doctor said, "I'm not having children running around in the TARDIS!"

Rose punched his arm playfully.

"I'm not going to have kids yet!" she said, "but I'm not ruling it out as a possibility for later. Have to find someone to have them with first though…"

"I'm sure the…" Jack began, but Amber smacked him before he could finish his sentence.

Both the Doctor and Rose looked at her gratefully.

* * *

"That was weird," Rose said, as they walked away from Nancy's with Jackie. "It feels like only yesterday she was twenty."

"In a way it was," the Doctor said, "Time does not run in straight lines, it crosses over, overlaps, loops and spirals…"

"Don't go into the technicalities…" Rose said, pointing at him with a cheeky smile, "I know you are only showing off how brilliant you are for being able to understand it when it just does everyone else's heads in."

"So, where are we going?" Jackie asked.

"For dinner, with the Prime Minister, so! Back to the TARDIS to take advantage of the extensive wardrobe!" the Doctor said.

"You have a wardrobe on that thing?" Jackie asked.

"It's bigger on the inside remember Mum?" Rose said, linking arms with her Mother.

"Speaking of doing your head in…" Jackie muttered, "and wasn't your hair blue before?" she asked, turning to Amber.

"Yes," the assassin replied simply.

"Don't mind her," Rose said to her Mum to prevent her from getting annoyed. She was worried that antagonising Amber would only lead to someone getting hurt.

"Don't worry," Amber said. Somehow Rose knew she was talking to her.

"Were you reading my mind?" Rose said.

"Sort of," Amber replied.

"Well, don't – I don't appreciate my private thoughts being poked about in!"

"I can't read your thoughts, I'm not that good…" Amber said, "I can just pick up on general moods."

"How did you manage to fly the TARDIS then?" Jack asked, "I figured you must have been a pretty powerful Telepath."

"The TARDIS was helping me," Amber said shrugging, "She wanted me to know what to do." She added, patting the blue box they had just arrived at fondly.

"Traitor!" the Doctor said amicably to his ship.

* * *

"Right then!" the Doctor said, "Rose, Jackie! Go and take a look in the wardrobe for something you would like to wear, something smart please ladies, and you can keep whatever you pick."

"Come on Mum!" Rose said, "We can pick something really gorgeous out!"

Jackie nervously followed her daughter into the depths of the time ship.

"Lovely woman," Jack said, causing the Doctor to go off on a tirade. Jack laughed as he complained about Jackie's stubbornness and inability to comprehend things larger than the plotlines on Eastenders.

"You just don't like the idea of having her as a Mother-in-Law." Jack said knowledgably.

"What gives you that impression?" the Doctor asked. Jack didn't answer, he just laughed to himself.

"What do you think?" Rose said, walking in with a twirl.

She was dressed in a long, elegant dress, not at all like her usual Jeans and T-shirt combos. The difference was breath taking. It was like 1860s Cardiff all over again.

"Wow!" Jack said for both him and the Doctor. Rose grinned.

"Mum's just coming, so the wardrobe is all yours Jack – go and find yourself a nice tux!"

Jack grinned and sprinted back to the wardrobe, passing Jackie on the way, who was looking distinctly uncomfortable in a dress. The Doctor was reminded of the 1980s Jackie at Sarah and Stuart's wedding, and couldn't help grimacing a little – that had been a bad day.

"What's that face for?" Jackie demanded.

"Nothing, Jackie, I err… stubbed my toe on the console." The Doctor said, then smiled, large and fake, "dead clumsy me!"

Jackie regarded him warily, but nodded, accepting his story, then turned to play with Rose's hair.

Meanwhile, Jack returned out of the wardrobe, dressed in a very smart tux which made him look almost respectable.

"Not bad!" Rose said.

"How about that drink then Doctor?" Jack said with a flirtatious grin.

"No ta!" the Doctor said, grinning back, "I know what you are like on alcohol!"

"Once you two are finished flirting…" Amber said, walking out from behind her ship, returning it to its home in the locator.

Jackie watched with awe as the ship slid into the box, then turned to look at Amber, whose hair was now back to blue, her clothes back to normal and the gemstone back in the centre of her forehead. Jackie's jaw dropped very unflatteringly.

"Ready?" the Doctor said to everyone, looking round. He nodded at Jack, Rose and Jackie, but paused when he came to Amber. "Amber, change would you?"

Amber looked at what Jackie and Rose were wearing, then cultured herself a very flattering blood red dress and a pair of elegant black sandals. Her hair she took out of the tight ponytail and allowed to fall loose over her shoulders. Rose thought if Jack stared any harder his eyes would pop out.

"Amber…" the Doctor said, tapping his forehead like he had done before they first left the TARDIS.

Amber rolled her eyes again, then concentrated briefly, creating a silver tiara for herself that incorporated the blue stone.

"That's better," the Doctor said, "Fantastic! Let's go!"

"How did she do that?" Jackie asked, finally finding her voice.


	4. Dinner and Dancing

Thanks to all the people who reviewed! Here's the next chapter!

* * *

The group walked together into central London, the Doctor and Jack 'discussing' the interplanetary football league (mostly involving Jack raving about Earth's team, while the Doctor dismissed it all as a pointless excuse for men to run around like idiots), Rose and her Mum chatting about this person from the shop, and that girl who worked in the newsagents, while Amber drifted along side them, playing with her locator.

"She's a bit funny, that Amber girl…" Jackie said to Rose.

"Alien, I know," Rose said with a smile, "The Doctor can be like that sometimes, you just forget he's not human because he looks so like one, but then he does something odd and reminds you he's from another planet and time."

"You mean that blue box thing isn't reminder enough?"

"You get used to it after a little while," Rose said with an unconcerned shrug, "Reckon it's more like home to me now than the flat."

"Well, you haven't been living in the flat for near enough the last two years…" Jackie said.

"It's not been that long for me, I don't think…" Rose tried to think, but it was hard to keep time in the TARDIS. They ate when they were hungry, slept when they needed rest, there was no day and night, no order or sequence to the day, just whatever your body needed.

"You don't even know how old you are any more!" Jackie said, "You could be twenty, twenty-one, should be by my clock, but you could have only been gone a week!"

"It's been longer than that this time, Mum," Rose said, "not like that first time when I was only gone for a few days and a whole year passed!"

"Don't you go doing that to me again! I want you to keep up this phoning and texting, even if it costs you hundreds of pounds, or whatever money it is that you spend!"

"I promise Mum, never again, and you know where I'm off to now, so there's no worries about telling you."

"He still can't promise me…" Jackie muttered.

"Promise you what?" Rose asked.

"That you'll always be safe!"

"Mum, I can't promise I'll be safe getting the bus to work everyday. Some lunatic could come along and, I dunno, shoot me or something. I'd rather be in danger doing something amazing than something boring."

"I suppose…" Jackie said begrudgingly, "And we're not going to get attacked this time, right? Because every other time you come home I end up shot at, hunted, stuck in the middle of some alien plot, even nearly eaten!"

"Mum, nothing's going to happen, we are perfectly safe, well, safe as you can be in London," Rose reassured, "we're on holiday! What could possibly go wrong?"

* * *

In the shadows, unseen by the Doctor and his extended group of companions, something lurked. 

It scanned the alleyway, searching for the blip of signal it had caught on to. It was faint, but probably enough for the thing to find its target. All it really needed was a visual, something more reliable than the tiny measure of radiation that was interrupted every time someone with a mobile phone walked past, indistinguishable from the radiation given off by the small communications devices.

It crept forwards at the sound of voices, recording the conversation, filtering for keywords.

_Doctor_

…

_Human medicinal practitioner_

…

_Negative_

…

_Sonic Screwdriver_

…

_Sonic device, non-contemporaneous_

…

_Positive_

…

_Conduct scan? Yes._

…

_Life form of Non-Earth origin, circa 900 years old, species non-identifiable_

…

_Follow? Yes._

…

* * *

The Doctor and company met Mickey and Tricia outside the restaurant at five to seven. 

"I had to tell her," Mickey said, "about you working for the Government…"

"Yeah," Tricia said, "I did always wonder where you vanished to for a whole year, Rose, nice to know the truth!"

Rose smiled while Jack tried not to laugh.

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't tell you sooner," Rose said, "You're looking great by the way, Tricia!"

"Aw, thank you!" Tricia beamed at Rose. "So then, introduce me to everyone then Mickey!"

Mickey looked awkward, but he turned to the crew before him.

"This is Jackie Tyler, Rose's Mum, err, Jack Harkness…"

"_Captain_ Jack Harkness, of the American Airforce," Jack said with a charming grin, "And don't you forget it Mickey!"

"I thought you were supposed to be behaving…" Amber said.

"Oh yeah…" Jack said sheepishly, making Tricia laugh.

"Yeah, don't mind him," Rose said, "He has a habit of flirting with anything moving…"

"Who said movement was necessary?" the Doctor asked with a wide grin.

"Moving on…" Rose said, "This is the Doctor, he's with UNIT, United Nations Intelligence Taskforce," (the Doctor waved and smiled) "and Amber – she's with the F.B.I."

"Nice to meet you all!" Tricia said, looking at Amber with slight uncertainty, "I'm Tricia, from the shop." She added with a little shrug.

"Nice to meet you Tricia from the shop!" the Doctor said, smiling in his silly way. "Shall we head inside?"

He held the door open for Tricia, who smiled up at him, before taking Mickey's hand and walking through it, saying quietly, but not so quiet that the Doctor's ears couldn't pick up on it, that she found Rose's friends charming and didn't know why he had been so worried about coming to dinner.

The Doctor grinned goofishly on hearing this, and turned to Rose, rolling his eyes and beckoning her through the door. Rose tried to contain her amusement by biting at her lip and walked into the posh restaurant, followed closely by her Mum and Amber.

"The F.B.I.?" Amber questioned quietly.

"Yeah, I thought you'd prefer that to being a bodyguard, bit more glamorous," Rose said.

* * *

Harriet joined them just as the Doctor was ordering a round of drinks. Jackie regarded her a little coldly, Tricia dropped the spoon she had been toying with in surprise, Rose and Jack waved merrily while the Doctor took her order. 

"Well isn't this lovely?" Harriet said as she took a seat, "my dear, I don't believe we have been introduced," she turned to Tricia.

"I'm Tricia Delaney," Tricia said, looking slightly star struck.

"Pleasure to meet you, Tricia, and you must be Mrs. Tyler."

"Ms, actually, but call me Jackie!" Jackie said, trying to smile but ending up grimacing.

"Drinks!" the Doctor said, arriving at a very opportune moment, removing the awkwardness that had been about to set in.

"One Vodka and Coke for Mr Harkness, don't drink it all at once!" the Doctor said.

"Yes sir!" Jack said with a grin, sipping at his drink. "You know, shame they don't do Hyper Vodka's here yet, that is one fine drink, especially for breakfast!"

Amber discreetly kicked him under the table.

"Hyper Vodka?" Tricia asked, "Never heard of that!"

"Never heard of anyone drinking them for breakfast either," Amber said, casually deflecting the question.

"Well, I was about to be…"

"Stop!" Rose said, holding up her hand, "I don't want to _know_ what made you need to drink Vodka for breakfast."

Tricia laughed, Mickey didn't – he just eyed Jack warily, trying to give him a non verbal warning to watch his big mouth.

"No, you probably don't!" Jack said with a grin.

"Moving swiftly on…" the Doctor said, handing out the rest of the drinks.

"So is this what you government types get up to, is it? Drinking Vodka for breakfast? No wonder Rose left home!" Tricia said, sipping on a bright green cocktail.

Jackie looked like she was going to say something but Rose pressed on her foot in warning.

"It's not all fun and games you know," the Doctor said, "the Captain just likes to make the most of his monthly pay day."

"Don't we all," Tricia said.

Amber regarded the blue drink Jack had recommended to her (because it would match her hair) and sipped it cautiously.

"Nice?" Jack asked, "See, I know my drinks, I do." He said smugly when she nodded.

"You are so full of it," Amber said complacently.

* * *

The menus came round and Rose had fun trying to help her Mother pick something out from the complicated and fancy sounding meals. Amber also had a bit of trouble, but after declaring she wasn't fussy to Jack, who was getting very close while trying to recommend something delicious, she picked a meal at random and said she would have that. 

If Tricia thought their behaviour was a little weird she didn't mention it, though she did ask Mickey if Amber was foreign, for she sounded neither American, nor English, to which he vaguely replied she was from quite a way away.

Dinner was eaten over polite conversation about various political things, shop prices, holidays in Tenerife and an amusing tale or two from Jack, about what he and his 'Air force friends' got up to, nearly all of which involved running and a lack of clothing.

"I'm just going to go to the bathroom," Tricia said, standing up and excusing herself from the table.

"Yeah, me too," Rose said, and the two women walked away together.

The bathroom was huge with an enormous mirror. Rose automatically started checking her hair and touching up her makeup. Tricia rather awkwardly joined her.

"You must think I'm a super bitch…" Tricia said, "You go away to do important Government business and I steal your boyfriend." She explained sheepishly.

"Oh, no!" Rose said earnestly, "Mickey deserves someone who is going to be around for him. You two look dead happy together, I'm happy for him, and you!"

"Really?" Tricia asked, a glimmer of hope in her eyes, "I'm so glad you said that, I was worried you'd hate me."

"I could have stayed here with Mickey, but I chose not to, he deserves someone better than me." Rose said firmly. "You could be that person."

"I'm glad I have your consent."

"You don't need my consent." Rose said, smiling kindly.

"So, what's it like, working for top secret Government agencies?" Tricia asked.

"Top secret!" Rose said with a grin, "It's dangerous, but invigorating. I love it!"

"You have some pretty cool friends," she said, "the Captain seems really nice – pretty handsome too!"

"Don't let him know you think that, his head's over inflated enough as it is!"

"I think Mickey would be a bit bothered if I did anyway, he seems very wary of him – have they met before?"

"Once yeah, in Cardiff," Rose said, "Jack is very over the top, particularly when it comes to flirting, I think that made Mickey a bit uncomfortable!"

Tricia laughed. "The Doctor, is that his name? Anyway, he seems pretty nice to, sounds like a real brain box!"

"Yeah, he knows all sorts, gold mine of information," Rose said.

"Amber is the only one I'm not so sure about, but then, she is F.B.I.," Tricia said as if that explained everything, "Has the most amazing hair though – how does she get it to look that natural?"

Rose was saved from answering by Jackie bustling in to let them know pudding was being served.

* * *

Rose finished the last mouthful of a large piece of Chocolate Fudge Cake as the restaurant band began to play. A few chairs at the front had been cleared to the side, making something of a dance floor, and a few couples were rising to have a quick sway to the music. Jack looked to the Doctor with mischief in his eyes, and excused himself from the table and skipped over to talk to the band. 

"What is he doing?" Rose asked. The Doctor shrugged.

"Not a clue, but, as it's Jack, at least one person at this table is not going to like it!" he said.

They watched Jack chatting away flirtatiously to the head of the band, who seemed to be nodding in agreement. A moment later they stopped playing the song they had been playing, and switched to a song Rose and the Doctor recognised instantly. Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller.

"Recognise this one Rose?" Jack asked with a big grin, "Come on – time to burn off that Fudge Cake!"

He held out his hand and Rose took it, allowing herself to be pulled away to the dance floor.

"Dance with me?" Tricia said to Mickey, who reluctantly took to the floor.

Jackie looked for romance in Rose and Jack's dancing, but it was very clear there was none. They were both grinning stupidly at each other, while doing ridiculous little moves, talking very animatedly about something. There was no tenderness or longing, they were just two friends having a laugh. Jackie was a little disappointed. She wouldn't have minded having Jack in the family – he was at least human.

Rose came skipping back over, a little flushed, and grabbed the Doctor's arm.

"Come on!" she said, "I know you've got the moves now, I'm going to make sure you use them!"

"Rose…" The Doctor tried to protest, but he was already halfway to the dance floor.

Jackie watched them with eyes like a hawk. The romance was definitely there now – there was no mistaking the tender look in the Doctor's eyes, or the dreamy smile on Rose's face.

Jack was watching them smugly, feeling this was all due to his intervention, when he heard Amber's voice in his head.

_You're little design is likely to go to pot if you don't distract Mrs. Tyler sometime soon, she's looking a little venomous…_

Jack grinned to himself, then went over to the table to ask Jackie for a dance.

* * *

Sometime later, when everyone except Amber had had a quick twirl with Jack, a slightly tipsy Rose decided it was high time the assassin had a little fun. 

"Jack…" she crooned, "why don't you get Amber up for a little dance?"

"Because I value my life very highly," Jack said.

"Oh come on, I know you want to…" Rose said, poking him in the chest.

"What I want and what I can do are two entirely different things in this situation," Jack said, "Because I also want to still be alive at the end of the evening."

"I thought Jack always got what Jack wants…" Rose teased.

"He does!" Jack said, puffing his chest up a little.

"Then go and get a dance off Amber!" she said as if this was the simplest thing in the world.

"I have a feeling I'm going to regret this Rose Tyler," Jack said, then sauntered over to Amber.

* * *

"Amber, may I have this dance?" Jack asked, bowing deeply before Amber with a cheeky grin on his face. Amber leaned forwards. 

"No." she said, then sat back in her chair.

"Amber would love to have this dance!" Harriet said, pushing her forwards.

"Amber does not dance," Amber said.

"Amber does now!" Tricia said, joining the effort.

"What is this, a human conspiracy or something?" Amber said a little too loudly.

"Oh you'll have to come now, to make them forget you just said that," Jack said with a wicked grin, and Amber had to oblige.

"You do look gorgeous in that dress," Jack said, trailing his hands as low as he dared, which was probably far too low in Amber's books, and pulling her closer to him.

"Is that a gun in your pocket?" Amber asked.

"Or maybe I'm just pleased to see you," Jack said with a smutty grin, "Or it could be both…" he whispered into her ear.

"I hope it's a gun," Amber said, looking straight over his shoulder.

"You know, you aren't such a spoil sport, you could easily have knocked me out if you really didn't want to dance… I think you want me."

"Don't flatter yourself, I don't fight in public," Amber said.

"Whatever sweetheart, you know you just can't resist Captain Jack Harkness."

* * *

Amber squinted as something crossed her vision. She was half listening to Jack ramble about something, but she was more interested in the slight shimmer she was certain she had seen a second ago. 

Just as she was about to dismiss it as nothing, she saw it again, and without a further hesitation, she dived her hand into Jack's pocket, took out his gun and shot at it.

There was an eat splitting explosion, and the previously near invisible thing Amber had shot at suddenly appeared, now without a head, but still holding a gun out before itself in a threatening manner. The band stopped playing and there was a deafening silence before the screaming and panicking began.

Jack looked around, bemused but impressed.

"You saw that coming?" he asked, "it was completely invisible!"

Amber didn't answer, she had her eyes closed. What she was doing was answered when the first person came to a door and cried out that it was locked. Amber smiled, apparently satisfied then walked over to the bar, leaving Jack to examine what was left of whatever she had just shot.

"Have you got something I could use to make a loud noise?" She asked the terrified barman, "I would shoot this in the air, but I don't want to put a hole in your ceiling."

He handed her a pan and a wooden spoon.

"Excellent," she said, then wandered off over to the Doctor.

"What was all that about?" he asked, fuming.

"Though I doubt you care much for my neck, I just saved Jack's, so kindly wait until I've explained before kicking off at me, and can I borrow your psychic paper?"

The Doctor stared at her mutely, so Rose rummaged around in his jacket until she found it.

"Thank you Rose," Amber said, and stood on the table. She looked around at the panicking people, and banged the spoon and pan together. Everyone stopped screaming.

"Good," Amber said, "Now I have your attention, I'm Amber, and I'm with the F.B.I." she said, holding up the Psychic Paper.


	5. Time to Save the World, Again

Sorry it's been a while! Had some courseork to do that was due in friday... total nightmare, but all done now! Thanks for all your lovely reviews,here's the next chapter!

* * *

The crowd silenced and stared up at Amber nervously, waiting for her to speak. 

"Now, what has happened here is government business and of no concern to any of you. You will leave this restaurant in a moment and not breathe a word of this to anyone. If you so much as whisper about it to a loved one, we will know. We know where you live; we would be upon you before you could finish the story." She said coldly.

"That's rubbish!" one man protested, "You don't know who we are, you don't know where we live! That's all government conspiracy! The public has a right to know if it is in danger!"

"That's all very well, Mr. Ross Morris, but are you sure I don't know where you live? Twenty four Garland Drive, Sunbury, London? Nice place actually." Amber said coolly.

Mr Ross Morris nearly fell to the floor there and then.

"Not a word!" Amber repeated, "Now the doors will unlock in a minute, and you will leave. My good friend the Doctor will be paying for all your meals, so you don't have to worry about paying the bill on your way out. I assure you that the public is not in any danger – you can sleep soundly in your beds tonight. Just forget this ever happened."

The people murmured anxiously to each other, and when the doors unlocked they all rushed at once for the exit. Once they were out, Amber jumped off the table and returned the paper to the Doctor. She looked down at the gun in her hand, about to return it to Jack.

"This is mine!" she said.

"Uh, yeah it is…" Jack said sheepishly.

"Keep it," Amber said, throwing it back to him, "If you've had it for the last however many hours God only knows where it might have been!"

Jack grinned and pocketed the gun again.

"It was worth it to have your hands so close for a few brief minutes!" he said.

"I hope you've got the money to pay off this lot," Amber said to the Doctor.

"He has bottomless pits of money, I swear," Rose said, "We'll go pay now," she added, dragging a reluctant Doctor over to the bar.

Amber walked over to the person she had shot and examined him, making difficult work of kneeling down in her dress and sandals. The Laser Compact Deluxe had made quick work of his head, but rather than blood and gore, there were shards of metal on the floor. Amber picked one up between her fingers and examined it.

"So the F.B.I. knows exactly who we are and where we live?" Tricia asked, leaning over Amber's shoulders to inspect the mess.

Amber stood up, switching back to what she normally looked like.

"I'm not with the F.B.I.," she said to a dumbstruck Tricia.

* * *

"So are you going to explain why you blew the head off a civilian in the middle of a restaurant?" the Doctor said once he had cleared away all the workers. 

"Not a civilian!" Amber said, handing him the metallic shard, "and it was walking at me entirely invisible armed with a handgun! What was I supposed to do, let it shoot me?"

The Doctor craned his neck to get a better look at the casualty and saw he was pointing a gun in front of him.

"Couldn't you have held back?" he asked, walking over to inspect what was left.

"I'm and assassin, when someone points a gun at my head I don't really think twice about their intentions," Amber said and they knelt down together beside the body, "besides, I don't even think this is just an ordinary human. Not any more…"

Amber lifted the man's shirt to reveal a metal grid on his chest. Rose wandered over to take a look, trying to ignore his lack of head.

"The only thing I blew off when I shot his was a computer and a bit of skin." Amber said, "This one has been dead for a while, his functions are being run by super computers placed where his brain would have once been, connected to his muscles and organs via his already in place nervous system."

"A cyborg?" Jack asked.

"Yes, a cyborg," Amber said, "This is millennia ahead of this time."

"Trouble?" Rose said with a small grin.

"Just a tad," the Doctor said.

He went to inspect further the shards of metal, but as his hand approached they began to melt and run away to the nearest drain. The gun in his hand also melted away. What was left of the body spontaneously combusted.

"What's happening?" Rose asked.

"Cyborgs…" Amber said with distaste, "When damaged they always return to be repaired. When damaged beyond use the metal parts return for recycling and their carrier is destroyed."

"Gross," Mickey commented.

"Very," Rose said.

"I thought you were on holiday?" Harriet said.

Jackie and Tricia seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

* * *

After conducting a few scans with his Sonic Screwdriver, the Doctor stood up and turned to Amber and Jack. 

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I don't know," Jack said, "but the cyborg, thing, it, was after something, or someone…"

"Cyborgs?" Rose said.

"Like in Terminator?" Mickey asked.

"Yes, like in Terminator…" The Doctor said impatiently.

"You don't think it's possible that the Time Agency is onto Jack?" Rose asked, "Maybe they caught on that you were conning them and wanted you dead."

"I'm not conning them, anymore…" Jack protested.

"Wouldn't he be a little hard to track?" Mickey said, "You know, the entire of Time and Space – that's a pretty large place to find someone in."

"But even if they found out too late they could just jump back through time to when he was there," Rose said, "right?"

"It's not impossible," the Doctor said.

"She's right if it's Jack they are looking for or not, because we only just got here, this lot must have been set up, placed inside human victims. That kind of operation takes months." Amber said.

"Good point," the Doctor said, scratching at his chin thoughtfully while Rose looked smug, "and I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier – you might have just saved all out necks."

"That's ok," Amber said.

"Right then," the Doctor rubbed his hands together, "Saving the world time again."

"What?" Jackie demanded and Tricia asked anxiously.

"Oh come on," the Doctor said, "We have Rose and Jackie Tyler, Jumping Jack Flash, Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North…"

"Harriet Jones, Prime Minister of England actually…" Harriet corrected him.

"…right, sorry! Now where was I? Oh yes! Harriet Jones, _Prime Minister of England_, Amber the Assassin, Mickey the Idiot and Tricia from the Shop! Perfect team for saving the world, now let's go! To the TARDIS!"

"Oh look at him all jumping up and down because the world is about to end!" Jackie snapped as she followed the Doctor and her daughter out of the restaurant.

* * *

Tricia skipped alongside Mickey as everyone marched very quickly towards a strange looking blue Police box. 

"What is going on?" she asked, "I thought Rose's friends were with the Government!"

"You said it was nice to know the truth, you're about to learn the real truth," Jack said.

"The real truth?" Tricia asked nervously, "So you aren't with the air force?"

"Well I was," Jack said, "Just about fifty years ago."

"She was wearing a dress…" Tricia waved vaguely in Amber's direction. Amber was looking all around, clutching a large meat cleaver she had grabbed from the kitchen.

"She's an alien from another planet," Jack said bluntly, then walked forwards to catch up with Amber, scanning as he went with his watch.

"Mickey…" Tricia said.

"Tricia, I'm sorry about all this, it's the Doctor, he's trouble – things like this always happen when he's around."

"You knew about this?"

"Yeah, I couldn't tell anyone though, I mean, who would have believed me anyway?"

Tricia shrugged.

"Not me…" she admitted, "So is this why you have loads of folders on Aliens in your bedroom?"

* * *

"Well, here we are, welcome to the TARDIS!" the Doctor said, unlocking the door and pushing it open. Rose, Jackie, Amber, Mickey and Jack stepped in without hesitation but Tricia and Harriet entered with that apprehensive 'first time in the TARDIS' look. 

"So, what do we do?" Jack asked.

"Well I should think that's fairly obvious," Amber said, throwing her meat cleaver down by the console and removing her jacket, "Cyborgs return to where they were manufactured when damaged. All we have to do is damage one sufficiently, but not so much that it self destructs, and follow it."

"How do you intend to find them?"

"I don't think that's an issue – they will be looking for us." Amber said, bending to pick up her utility belt and tying it round her waist, "All we have to do is get out in the open where no one is likely to get hurt, and wait."

She took out her ship and ducked inside for a second, returning with two blades in strange contraptions which she was strapping to her wrists. Rose and Jack watched with curiosity as she flicked her hands downwards, making the previously sheathed blades shoot out. She spun them round in her hands for a moment, and then returned them with a quick flick to their cases. Satisfied, she put her jacket back on, hiding the blades completely from sight.

"Only problem is, anything I have is only going to put rather large holes in the Cyborgs – I need something which isn't as powerful, but with a long range – I don't fancy fighting them hands on!" Amber said, ignoring the stunned looks on the faces of the humans, and turning to the Doctor, who was toying with the console.

"I don't have any weapons," the Doctor said, "I don't believe in violence, generally."

"What are you doing anyway?" Rose asked, jumping up to the console area.

"I'm trying to track any alien technology," he said, grinning slightly at Rose's disbelieving expression.

"You won't find anything," Amber and Jack said together.

"I didn't think I would, but it was worth a try." The Doctor said, "before we go rushing into your trigger happy plan."

"Why can't you track them?" Harriet asked.

"Cloaking device round the tech – the only way to locate them is to follow them in person. Otherwise we would have picked up the anomaly when we landed." The Doctor explained, "The TARDIS knows when things aren't right. It's not terribly accurate with only one person piloting her, even when that one person is as fantastic as me! So, it only really picks up things that are millennia, and I mean lots of millennia, ahead of your time. And there has to a sufficient amount of the tech, otherwise the signal is too small."

"So it couldn't pick up Margaret Slitheen because she was too small?" Mickey asked.

"Not because she was too small, because _that _was too small," Jack said, pointing at the extrapolator, which was half wired to the TARDIS.

"That's why we were dragged off course and into Van Statten's, Rose, the TARDIS picked up the tech and the alien signal." The Doctor explained.

"Can you tell it not to do that next time," Rose said with a shudder.

The Doctor smiled a grim smile. Jackie looked between the Doctor and her daughter, then up to Jack, but judging by his bemused face, he didn't have a clue what they were on about either.

"So what are you going to do?" Jackie demanded.

"Well, the guards at Downing Street have guns, but they may think it a little odd if we ask to borrow them." Harriet said.

"Wait," Tricia said, speaking at last, "My Dad, he owns the shop – he keeps a gun under the desk, you could borrow that."

Mickey stared at Tricia, as did Jackie.

"Tricia from the Shop," the Doctor said, "anyone would think you had done this before!"

And with a smile he held his hand out to the door and said, "Lead the way!"

* * *

Please review! xx 


	6. They're after me

Hello there! thanks again for all the lovely reviews:) :) :) For those of you who don't already know I put a link to a picture of Amber (and Jack) on my homepage. For some reason two links show up and i dunno why that is, tried to fix it but couldn't, so... if you want to take a look, click on the second link!

* * *

Tricia unlocked the door and let everyone in. It was late and no one else was around, so they went practically unnoticed the entire journey. Only a couple of young couples heading home passed them, and they didn't pay much attention to the strange crew being led by Tricia towards the shop.

Tricia ducked behind the front desk and pulled out a gun. It was a fairly old shotgun.

"Tricia!" Mickey said, "Why has your Dad got a shotgun?"

"His grandparents were farmers, living out in the countryside, it's been handed down from father to son, and yes he has a licence." Tricia passed the gun to Jack, who inspected it.

"This loaded?" he asked.

Tricia rooted around for a little while and produced a box of bullets.

"I don't know how to…" she began but Jack had already opened up the gun and began placing in the bullets. "You obviously do," Tricia said.

Jack pumped the barrel of the shotgun, loading it, then held it out straight, taking aim.

"That ought to do nicely," Amber said, "When do we start looking for trouble?"

"Now if you're up for it!" the Doctor replied cheerily.

"Where though, we don't want to endanger anyone else." Jack said.

"Maybe we should go to the rooftops," Rose suggested, "You could get up there from our block of flats. Shoot the thing when it comes for us; chase it back down the stairs and to its little hideout. That way we won't run the risk of shooting someone else."

"I'm not going to shoot someone else!" Jack said, still aiming the gun.

"Who said you were doing the shooting?" Amber said, and removed the gun from his hands.

"This is quiet time in London," Harriet said, "Everyone is either in the theatre or at home, preparing to come out. You probably have ten minutes until the theatres empty and the night clubs open."

"The roof it is then!" the Doctor said, "Lets spend those ten minutes getting up there unnoticed – don't want to be alarming any more citizens, done our fair share of that already!"

Together the company climbed to the rooftops, trying not to attract the attention of the increasing numbers of passers by, which was easier said than done when your company contained the Prime Minister, a girl with blue hair and a shotgun, and Jack, who was stopping to flirt with all the dressed up girls.

London, being a large city, was fairly well lit up, but Amber wasn't taking any chances. She took out a pair of what looked like ordinary sunglasses out of her pocket. They were actually a set of 'Vision' Goggles, which had a number of settings, including night vision and x-ray vision. For this particular adventure, Amber set them to Infrared. Cyborgs gave out almost as much heat as a normal lifeform. She would easily be able to spot one approaching.

She walked out to the centre of the roof, holding the shotgun under her arm.

"Everyone stay out of the way and really still, preferably behind me." She said, walking so she faced the stairway the Cyborg was likely to come from.

Once everyone was seated, she took out her locator and toyed with it for a moment.

"What are you doing?" Mickey asked.

"Reversing the tech principal," Amber said, "We can assume our enemy is using tech scans to find us. They probably picked up the gun or the Sonic Screwdriver. Any scanner out there will now have a large spike of activity on its screens that can only mean on thing…"

"So we're just going to sit here and wait while some robot thing comes looking for us with a gun?" Jackie asked.

Rose noticed the Doctor grit his teeth and quickly changed the subject.

"Won't they expect that though? Won't they predict a trap?"

"Cyborgs are artificial intelligence and ultimately expendable, they are programmed to try and deal with the problem in a certain way, while contacting their programmers to alert them to the situation." Jack said, "Essentially they are guard dogs, none of that resourceful, super-intelligent, voice changing, 'human' thing you get in the movies."

"What happened to super advanced, millions of years in the future?" Mickey asked.

"It is super advanced!" the Doctor said, "Running a computer on the energy a body can provide, transmitting electronic information through the nervous system, artificial intelligence enough to carry out orders which involve thinking for itself, decision making. What else do you want? A built in video recorder?"

"But, on Satellite Five, Cathica used her nervous system to transmit electronic information – she had all the news running through her head! That wasn't that far into the future either, relatively speaking, but that's seems more advanced to me." Rose said.

"The technology on Satellite Five was merely utilizing some of the enormous potential of the human mind. A computer that can come even remotely close to synthesising that potential, imitating it, is very advanced indeed." The Doctor said.

* * *

The group sat around for nearly twenty minutes before a Cyborg appeared. Amber saw it coming a mile off, the strange heat signature which was shaped like a human, but slightly cooler than average with white tendrils running all though, where the nerves where being heated from the exchange of information and data. Mickey also saw it, a strange shimmer in the air, like a heat wave but moving sideways rather than up. The first the rest of the group saw of it, was when Amber had shot it.

When the first bullets hit the Cyborg it dropped the active camouflage and just looked at Amber for a second. After a moment's contemplation it raised its gun to shoot at her. Amber didn't give it a chance. She reloaded the shotgun and fired again.

The Cyborg recoiled away, giving Amber a chance to reload and put another round into it. Its clothes were shredded and blood was dripping from several nasty wounds, several circuits and wires were exposed and sparking yet still the creature didn't stop. It dropped the gun it was holding and charged straight at Amber. She responded by firing again and again at it as it got ever closer to her.

"She handles that like a pro," Mickey said, standing up to get a better look.

"I think I'm in love!" Jack said, entirely seriously.

The Cyborg continued running then jumped over Amber and off the building. Amber dropped the gun, looking mildly irritated.

"Aah, didn't anticipate that!" the Doctor said.

"No worries," Amber said, and jumped off the building herself.

Jack looked rather awestruck and very impressed, then ran for the stairs, jumping down them as fast as he could.

Rose and those left on the roof ran to the edge in time to see Amber land on the floor unscathed, and chase after the Cyborg that was running incredibly fast towards wherever it was going.

Rose, who was used to people doing unpredictable things, asked the most pressing question currently in her brain.

"How can she run in those _shoes_?"

* * *

The Doctor took those remaining behind back to the TARDIS. Using the console he keyed into Amber and Jack's unique signatures, tracking Amber by her alien genetics and Jack using the watch he wore. After a moment's tinkering he brought them both up on screen.

Amber and Jack were both running full speed, though Jack was a good way behind the smaller, more agile (not to mention the fact she had a considerable head start) Amber.

"Jack?" he asked, "Jack? Can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear Doc," Jack said, talking into his watch.

"Good, where are you? Look for a landmark."

"Not a clue – it's just a residential area, nothing significant about. I can't even see any street names, too dark."

"But can you keep up with Amber? I can't talk to her, I can see her but not hear – I need you to tell me where you are."

"Sure," Jack said, a bit breathlessly, "Not letting her get away. Do you think she'd marry me?"

Rose laughed and the Doctor grinned.

"I think she's a bit out of your league," Rose said.

"Well, a guy can dream…" Jack said, then ran faster.

Amber chased the Cyborg all the way to a disused building in a run down part of London, where land prices were too high to promote redevelopment and buildings were just left to go stale.

She switched the glasses she was wearing to Night Vision. It was very dark around here. She followed the Cyborg into the building and watched as it placed itself on a conveyer belt and was taken away for repairs.

Amber removed her glasses and walked further into the building. The lights were all red, giving the place and unwelcoming atmosphere. She crept through lines of inactive Cyborgs, shuddering as she saw the number of people who had been killed for the sinister purpose of whoever was controlling them.

Amber walked among the production lines cautiously. As long as the Cyborgs stayed offline she was safe, but if she did something that caused them to turn on, she was dead. Cyborgs shared only a few traits with their Hollywood counterparts, and one of those traits was the fact that they never stopped until they achieved their goal.

"So what exactly is going on here?" Jack asked, making Amber jump.

She spun round, the blade attached to her right wrist shooting out of its sheath as she raised her hand to near Jack's neck.

"A little jumpy?" he asked, leaning backwards away from her, gulping slightly.

"Don't do that again!" Amber said, exhaling sharply and returning the blade to its place beneath her jacket sleeve.

"Don't intend to," Jack assured her, breathing out and relaxing finally, "You're gonna make me go grey, girl. You ought to watch where you're pointing those!"

"I could do a lot worse than that with one if these!" she said, holding up her wrist in a threatening manner.

Jack gulped again, and wiped a sheen of nervous sweat from his forehead.

"Not frightened are we Captain?" Amber asked.

"Terrified," Jack said, "It must be the lighting."

* * *

"Jack?" the Doctor spoke again, "Where are you then?"

"Still no clue, Amber?" Jack said.

"Some warehouse somewhere," she replied.

"That's so useful," the Doctor said.

"Can't the TARDIS track us?" Amber asked.

"Yes of course it can! It's tracking you now!" the Doctor said impatiently.

"Then why not use that to find where we are?"

The Doctor paused for a moment.

"Right, yes, I hadn't thought of that. Hold on! We'll be with you in a jiffy!"

He flicked a few switches, twirled a few dials, and the central column began moving.

"That's how this _thing _flies?" Jackie asked.

"Yes, and it can go anywhere in time and space! Incredible isn't it?" the Doctor said smugly.

"It's a pile of junk!" Jackie retorted.

"Mother!" Rose said warningly.

"What? I'm just saying…" Jackie began, but trailed off as the column stopped moving and the Doctor ran towards the door.

"It should have landed right on top of them, but as it happens, we're a few yards out, not bad though." The Doctor said.

"I think you need some practice," Rose said, stepping out beside him, looking up at the exterior of the building Jack and Amber were in.

"Lets go and take a look shall we?" the Doctor said.

"Or not," Mickey said, looking a little fearfully at the derelict building.

* * *

Amber walked round further corridors, trailed by Jack who was still scanning everywhere.

"What exactly does that do?" she asked.

"Reads all sorts of things in the area, energies, life forms, poisonous gasses and stuff."

"Found anything interesting?"

"Well, the air is breathable, something is kicking out a lot of heat, and the whole building is buzzing with electricity."

"I could have told you that just by looking."

"Yeah, but it doesn't hurt to check." Jack said defensively, looking down at his watch for a moment then snapping it shut.

"Whoever built this place was definitely after something, or someone." Amber said, walking round another corner into a large central room.

"Yeah, well, there are always people after the Doctor," Jack said, following her in.

"Only this time it's not the Doctor they're after, it's me…" Amber said.

* * *

The control room was lined with pictures of Amber, in her assassin form, and a few blurry pictures of her in her normal form, taken on Perth.

"They'd go to all that effort just to catch you?" Jack asked, ripping one of the pictures off the wall.

"Apparently so," Amber said.

"I didn't think you were that infamous."

"I'm not," Amber said, "I'm known, but only in a 'don't mess with her if you value your life' kind of way. No one wanted me dead before…"

"Before they found out you were the last of your kind," the Doctor said from the doorway.

"Nice of you to join us," Jack said with a grin.

"You can explain this?" Amber asked, waving her arm around the room.

"Well, your ship – it must have some kind of tracking device on it, but whoever is tracking you thinks you are a Quertiz, not iXionian. They don't know you can shape-shift. They arrive on Perth, stick in the background so as not to get noticed by the Perthians, look for you – after all, there are only so many places one can hide in an alien environment. They know you are there because of the signal, but they can't find you or your ship.

"Then we turn up and throw a spanner in the works, as per usual. We find you, take you back to your ship, at which point, someone must have spotted you in your true form, but they don't make the association yet. Then, during that little ruckus in the prison, you tell the Perthians you are the assassin they were looking for, and suddenly you're not just a minor inconvenience, but the last survivor of a dead race, worth a fortune to a bounty hunter.

"We leave Perth, and they track the signal through time and space to Earth, so they arrive a month or two early and set up, waiting for us to come. Quite clever really." He finished.

"Well, I'm not being tracked all through time and space!" Amber said, and took out her ship. "Where's this tracking device then?"

The Doctor took out his Sonic Screwdriver and scanned over the miniature ship.

"Here we go!" he said, and picked off a mark the size of a small drawing pin. As soon as it left the ship it grew to normal size in the Doctor's hand and started beeping. "They won't be able to follow you anymore, now, lets destroy this place and get out of here!"

"Er, Doctor…" Harriet said.

The Doctor looked up. The central control room had several doorways and from each several Cyborgs had entered, surrounding the company completely.

"Ah," the Doctor said.

* * *

Nice cliffhanger for you! please review! xx


	7. Damia

This will be the last update for a week because I am going down to Brighton! (yes to see the Dr Who convention! yay!) so I won't be able to update for a while. Slightlyshorter than usual because I wanted to get something up before I left.I will write the concluding chapter of this part when I get back. Til then, bye xx

* * *

Amber took out a gun and pointed it wildly around the room, trying to pick out the best target. Jack was also waving his Compact Laser Deluxe about. Even Tricia gripped the shotgun she was holding in a threatening manner.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a female voice asked.

Amber instantly changed the direction she was pointing her gun so it now pointed towards the mystery woman.

"Damia," Amber hissed.

"Nice to see you again, old friend, I must say you have changed quite a bit since our last encounter," Damia said sweetly, stepping into the light. She was probably beautiful once, but her face was scarred and disfigured.

"You haven't changed a bit," Amber snapped.

"Then you must be blind," Damia said.

"Maybe I just always saw you for what you were," Amber spat back.

"Remember the good old days, Amber? How did it come to this?" Damia asked, pointing her own gun at Amber's head.

"Something to do with you betraying me, and leaving me to die, I'm not so sure any more, the details are a little hazy," Amber said.

"You tried to kill me!" Damia shouted back, "You did this to me, scarred my face and body, then left _me_ to die while you swanned off in that wonderful ship of yours."

"As I remember it you attacked me. What I did was in self defence!" Amber said calmly.

"It's no matter," Damia said, "Water under the bridge as the humans would say. Now I have something else entirely against you."

"What have I done now?" Amber asked.

"When my ships shot you out of the sky, that _accident_, _caught in the crossfire_, that was my doing - I set up the battle, knowing you would be flying through, all it took was a little guidance, and your ship was spiralling out of control.

"It should have ended there, you should have fallen through space, burning in your own ship, but somehow you managed to jump time and space, and crash landed on that backwards little moon colony.

"You led me on a merry dance there - I was looking for you for days. You never told me you could shape shift Amber, don't best friends tell each other everything? I should have known you weren't Quertiz, far too intelligent for that weren't you? But I never said anything, I trusted you..."

"Then that was your first mistake!" Amber said, "I _never_ trusted you, because I knew you were a power hungry, crazy idiot with ideas above her station."

"That burns, Amber, almost as much as that acid jet you used on me," Damia sniffed.

"I wouldn't have had to use it if you hadn't got a gun to my head," Amber said, "You brought it upon yourself when you spent ten minutes gloating rather than killing me like you should have. You never did get good marks for efficiency when at school, did you?"

"My work was nothing compared to Miss Perfect. Was it for revenge Amber? Is that what spurred you on to greatness? Your planet was destroyed, that's plenty of people you would want to kill…"

"I don't kill for pleasure, I do it to survive." Amber said.

"You should try it," Damia said, "You might get a taste for it."

"I might make an exception for you…" Amber hissed.

"Does it burn, in your very veins, the hatred?" Damia asked. "I hated you so much, stupid little ugly Quertiz with a talent for killing that I would never have, and a passion for self improvement that the teachers loved so much… I could tolerate you because you were from an inherently stupid, ugly, brutish race, but you're not even any of those things, are you?"

Damia put her hand on Amber's face, forcing her to look up while she inspected it.

"Flawless," Damia said, and stepped back, "I could have said the same of myself once upon a time, but you saw to that, didn't you?"

Amber just glared at her coldly.

"Who are your friends, Amber?" Damia asked, "You trust them enough to reveal your true identity, what did they do that I never did?"

"They aren't psychotic for a start," Amber said.

"Are you determined to destroy me?" Damia asked with a fake sob.

"Not as determined as you are to destroy me," Amber said, waving her arm around the room.

"Pretty isn't it? Probably my most elegant work," Damia said, "Only the best for you, my old roomie, and it will be only the best for me when I collect the bounty on your head!"

"There is no bounty on my head," Amber said.

"Not you personally, but the last of the iXionians, now that's another matter…" Damia sauntered over, "I don't know why your planet was destroyed, but the people who did it wanted it destroyed pretty bad – I think they would be prepared to pay quite a price for the body of their enemy, delivered to them on a platter."

"You are messing with things above your head, Damia," Amber said, "You don't want to get involved in the Time War."

"There is no such thing as a Time War!" Damia spat, "It's nursery rhymes and fairy tales, a myth!"

"That's not true," the Doctor said, "I was there, I fought in the war."

"Don't interrupt, I'll kill you for your impertinence," Damia said, pointing her gun at the Doctor.

"This fight is between you and me, Damia, you let my friends go and we'll finish this," Amber said.

"Since when did I ever play fair Amber?" Damia asked.

"Damia, you don't even know what _I'm_ capable of," Amber said, "You don't want to be taking on my friends as well."

"Five humans and that idiot? I think I can manage."

"Oh I'm no idiot," the Doctor said, "I'm amazing."

"Prove it, big ears," Damia said.

The Doctor winked at Amber, then pointed his sonic screwdriver at the nearest computer, causing it to explode in a shower of sparks. The Cyborgs all started looking round then shutting down, as their connection to the computers had been broken. Amber took this as her cue and shoved Damia as hard as she could with her telekinesis, throwing her backwards out of the room.

"Run, Doctor!" she called, "Get them out of here."

"What about you?" Jack asked.

"I have to finish this – I don't want to be hunted by her all my life," Amber said, "We may have removed the tracer but she'll find other ways to track me down."

"I can help you," Jack said, taking out his gun.

"Help _them_!" Amber insisted.

Jack nodded and ran down the corridor after them.

"This ends now, Damia," Amber said, taking out a gun and running after her nemesis.

* * *

"What is going on?" Rose asked as they charged down the corridor.

"No idea!" the Doctor said, "We'll ask Amber to explain when she gets back shall we? For now we need to destroy this place, burn the technology to the ground."

"This building is like a maze!" Mickey said, "We'll never find anything!"

"We're not splitting up," the Doctor said, "It's too dangerous."

He ran round the corner and came face to face with several Cyborgs, ones apparently connected to a different computer. The group scattered and ran down several different corridors.

"So much for not splitting up!" Mickey said to the Doctor.

"We'll worry about it later," the Doctor said as a Cyborg ran down the corridor after them, "for now, run!"

* * *

Damia picked herself up and dusted herself down.

"Clever little iXionian," she muttered, "You have a few more tricks up your sleeve."

"Don't get me started on what's up my sleeve!" Amber said, shooting one of her concealed blades out and slashing at Damia's weapon, cutting it in half and rendering it useless.

"Resourceful," Damia said, "That was the most positive comment anyone could ever make about me. They said it about you as well of course, but resourcefulness was my real talent."

"How else would you have survived when I left you for dead!" Amber snapped, throwing punches at Damia, who blocked them with an almost careless air, "that's a mistake I won't be repeating – this time when I leave I'll make sure you're dead!"

"Oh, I'm sure you will, if I don't kill you first."

"How did you survive?"

"I have my contacts – the only reason you ever put up with me wasn't it? Because I had friends in high places."

"You were just a spoiled brat who thought she could be famous," Amber snapped.

"Infamous, dear, infamy is not as fickle as fame. Do the Earthlings remember the celebrities of hundred of years ago? No, they remember Jack the Ripper."

"You've spent too long on this planet."

"Definitely, why you came here in the first place I don't know…"

"Visiting friends of friends, something you wouldn't understand because you have no friends, let alone friends of friends."

"I have plenty of friends – they are all electronic, armed to the teeth and programmed to kill you."

"How delightful, they would make for great company at a party!" Amber said, blocking as Damia tried to break her nose.

"I must say though, darling, I love what you've done with your hair – major improvement on the old tentacle look." Damia pulled back on Amber's hair, tugging it roughly.

"You're so kind," Amber said, and slashed her across the face with her other concealed blade.

Damia staggered away from Amber, then stood up again, grinned and fled.

"You can't run from me, Damia!" Amber shouted, chasing after her.

"First in all the fitness tests, I know," Damia called back, "Lets check if you are still scoring high."

* * *

While Amber chased Damia, Jack and Rose ran through corridors, Jack randomly blasting away at the Cyborgs chasing them, getting annoyed as for every one he destroyed, another replaced it. The Doctor and Mickey were racing down a corridor, forgetting grievances of old as they fled for their lives, heading towards the centre of the building, a floor above, going in virtually the same direction, Jackie and Harriet had run up a flight of stairs and were now being chased from several directions by Cyborgs.

All alone, terrified and clutching a shotgun to her chest, Tricia crept through a corridor, trying not to alert any Cyborgs to her location, unaware she was heading straight towards Damia and Amber.

* * *

Amber walked into a room full of mirrors.

"How typical," she said quietly to herself, "You were always far to concerned about your appearance."

She crept around, looking for a sign of Damia. The mirrors were making her eyes hurt and she kept seeing things out of the corners of her eyes, making her very edgy. Finally she saw Damia.

"Got you," she said, and shot her.

There was a terrible crashing sound as the mirror shattered into a million tiny pieces, and Amber realised she hadn't shot Damia, but Damia's reflection.

"And I thought you were the smart one," Damia said, and stabbed Amber through the stomach with a shard of glass.

* * *

Thanks for all the reviews! please keep them coming! xx 


	8. The Best Team

"In here!" Mickey said, running into a room with a reinforced door. The Doctor ran in after him, and between them they pulled the door too and bolted it shut.

"Fantastic work Rickey!" the Doctor said.

"Mickey," Mickey corrected automatically, "Where are we anyway? And will that door keep those…_ things_ out?"

"For a little while," the Doctor said unconcernedly, "and we seem to be in a control room of some sort, which is fortunate for us."

"What's the plan then, Doctor?"

"I'm still working on that," the Doctor admitted, looking round at the computers.

"Well why don't you just destroy them? Rose is out there, she could get hurt!"

The Doctor felt momentarily sorry for Tricia that Mickey's first thought was for Rose, then a plan came rushing into his head.

"No, we don't know how far spread the technology is, how many computer rooms there are like this scattered around the building. We need to do something that guarantees we get rid of everything!"

"Like a virus?"

"Not quite a virus, virus's are too slow," the Doctor was dancing around in his childlike way, puling at cables, randomly typing things into various computers and scanning with his sonic screwdriver.

"What then?" Mickey asked.

"When you're as clever as me, you can do all sorts of wonderful things with a few bits of wire and computer parts. I'm going to make an EMP."

"A what?"

"An electromagnetic pulse – it will disable all electronic equipment within it's range."

"Can't you just turn it all back on again?"

"Not if we follow it up with a bomb. The EMP will disable all the Cyborgs, we get everyone out then blow the place to smithereens!"

"What about Damia?" Mickey asked.

"Let Amber worry about her, right now help me with this."

Mickey sat down at the nearest computer and began carrying out his instructions.

"That's right, re-route the power from the production lines to this room, concentrate it here, but don't take it away from what few lights there are. We don't want everyone running round in complete darkness! Now, I need something to stick this lot together."

The Doctor gestured towards a bundle of wires.

Mickey looked around the room, his eyes falling on a first aid kit. He leapt off his chair and pulled the kit off the wall. Inside there were miles of bandages and plenty of sticking plasters.

"This do?" Mickey asked. The Doctor grinned.

"Fantastic!"

* * *

Jackie Tyler and Harriet Jones ran down a long dark corridor, heading deeper and deeper into the building.

"Where the hell are we?" Jackie asked as they came to a halt in a room full of computers.

"Some sort of control room," Harriet said, "the Doctor said we had to destroy all this technology."

"So destroy it!" Jackie said, "Honestly, the situations I've been in since that _man_, if you can even call him that, waltzed into my life!"

Harriet was looking around the back of the computers for plugs to pull out of walls. She was flapping about, complaining about not knowing a thing about computers, when Jackie swung a chair into one of the machines.

"Right, that will work!" Harriet said.

"You politicians, just don't want to get your hands dirty!" Jackie snapped.

Rose and Jack charged down the corridor, fleeing from the Cyborgs.

Rose skidded to a halt running past a door and looking inside.

"Jack!" she called out and motioned through the door. They piled inside and pulled the door too before the Cyborgs got a chance to stop them.

"That was close!" Rose said, brushing her hair out of her eyes. She looked down at her fancy shoes, thinking of her poor aching feet. She should have learnt by now that she spent far too much time running to risk wearing anything other than trainers.

"Nice one Rose!" Jack said, looking around the room.

Wall to wall was lined with weapons of all shape and size. Jack's eyes were shining.

"Anything explosive here?" Rose asked.

"Why?"

"So we can blow this place up!"

"You're a charming woman, Rose, you're head is full of explosives!" Jack said with a grin.

"Blame the Doctor," Rose said, "I was well behaved before I met him."

"Now that can be taken two ways…" Jack said suggestively.

"Jack!" Rose reprimanded.

"These out to do the trick!" Jack said suddenly, picking up two spherical objects, tossing them around with a callousness that made Rose nervous.

"Come on then," Rose said, "Let's go find the Doctor."

* * *

Amber breathed really slowly, trying to slow her heart to minimize blood loss. Damia had her hands pinned to the mirror behind her, preventing her from fighting back, and she wasn't in any shape to struggle, she was feeling light headed and dizzy enough as it was.

"How does it feel Amber? Second best isn't as sweet as first place, is it?" Damia said, looking straight into Amber's orange eyes.

Amber really wasn't in the mood to listen to Damia gloat, so she lolled her head a little, acting up to the pain she was in so she could look over her shoulder and pay her no attention.

"I've dreamed of this moment," Damia whispered into her ear, "I've _longed_ for it!"

_Just shut up_, Amber thought, _get it over and done with, cut the tortured villain speech._

But she knew Damia wouldn't, she would drag it out to the bitter end. She also knew that bought her time to think, for as long as she could think straight.

Amber could feel her clarity fading so she tried to think fast. With her arms pinned and her legs not even able to support her own weight, there was not much Amber could do without help. She was about to give up when she saw Tricia reflected in one of the mirrors, still clutching the shotgun in her hands.

* * *

"Almost ready!" the Doctor said, "Now, when we set this off, the Cyborgs all switch off, but so will all the lights. Got a torch anywhere in that maintenance cupboard?"

Mickey waved a torch at him.

"Fantastic!" the Doctor said, "Now, once I push this button, the pulse will go off in," he pushed the button, "five, four, three, two, one…"

* * *

Tricia ran blindly down the corridor, listening to the echoes of commotion and fighting going on all around, her heart pounding in her chest. She didn't know where she was or how she was going to get out of this alive. The Shotgun was a redundant weapon really, it couldn't destroy those _things_ and she probably couldn't even shoot it straight, so though she clutched it like a security blanket, it was about as useful as a security blanket at warding off the monsters.

She ran until she ended up in a room full of mirrors. It was a sinister addition to the dark corridors and creepy robots from the future. Looking round it was difficult to tell what was reflection and what was real. Tricia guessed that was the purpose of the room, and progressed with caution, rather than running blindly like she had been doing.

As she crept round the maze of mirrors, voices floated up to join the symphony of crashes and slamming doors that was coming from upstairs.

"It warms my heart to see you looking so _helpless_…" came the voice of Damia.

"I'm not helpless," Amber retorted, "I have friends, something you will never understand, Damia, being the sort of person who is predestined to die alone."

"Haven't lost you're sense of humour I see," Damia said icily, "You're in a precarious position to be making insults, girl, when I am in control."

"Damia, you have never been in control – that's why they failed you so many times in the Academy."

Tricia could see them. Damia was standing over Amber, who appeared to be in pretty bad shape. She was completely trapped and helpless, with her arms pinned to the wall and a large shard of glass sticking out of her side. Tricia flinched when she saw it.

_I could end this… _She thought. But she couldn't, she could point the gun at Damia's back, but she couldn't stomach the thought of actually pulling the trigger.

_Do it! _A voice whispered from somewhere.

"You ruined my life, Amber, are you proud?" Damia wailed, "You ruined every chance I ever had of excelling, you did this to my face – you ruined me!"

_Do it! _The voice whispered louder.

Amber pulled herself really close to Damia and looked right into her eyes.

"The only thing I ever did to you was make the inside match the outside!" she said.

_DO IT, TRICIA! _The voice yelled, and Tricia pulled the trigger, just as all the lights went out.

* * *

"Come on!" Jackie said, "Take a swing with a chair or something – I'm sat her, doing all the hard work! Afraid you'll ruin your manicure?"

"I don't have manicures," Harriet said, "I just…"

"Just what?" Jackie asked, "Afraid you'll miss?"

"Well, no, I just don't think it's entirely…"

"Entirely what?"

"Civil," Harriet said.

"Honestly, you politicians need to let your hair down occasionally…" Jackie said with some contempt.

"I do, but not normally in the form of destroying computers with an office chair…"

"You can't knock it until you've tried it," Jackie said.

She wasn't that bothered, she just wanted to see the stuffy politician take a swing at a computer with a chair.

"Oh alright then!" Harriet said, and rolled up her sleeves.

She gripped the chair by its legs, picked it up and swung it hard at the nearest computer. As the chair collided with a loud crunch, all the lights went out.

"What did you do?" Jackie asked from somewhere in the darkness.

* * *

Jack and Rose looked round warily as all the lights died.

"What's going on?" Rose asked.

"I don't know," Jack admitted.

There was a knock on the door that sounded distinctly like someone slumping into it. Jack's eyes suddenly lit up.

He grabbed a gun off the wall then went to open the door.

"Jack don't!" Rose said, but as he pulled it open she saw the piles of Cyborgs lying on the floor completely unresponsive.

"What happened?" she asked.

"An electromagnetic pulse happened," Jack said, "the Doctor is a genius!"

"What's a one of those?"

"An electromagnetic pulse! Disables all electronic things, now – lets go find everyone and blow this place!"

"Sounds good to me! Lead the way, Captain!" Rose said, offering her arm. Jack grinned and took it, before they ran off together to find the others.

* * *

Damia gasped as the shotgun bullets flew into her back. She choked a little and a thin line of blood dripped from her mouth. She raised a hand to her face, wiping the blood away, which released one of Amber's hands.

"You are going to pay for that!" Damia said, "You think silly shotgun bullets would actually _stop_ me?"

"No, but this will," Amber said, then slit the assassin's throat with the blade she had concealed within her sleeve.

Damia gasped, then staggered backwards and fell to the floor, dead.

"What a mess," Amber said, looking down at the dead body of Damia. She looked up at Tricia, with thanks in her eyes, then slumped to the floor, a trail of blood smeared up the mirror above her.

"Oh my god! We need to get you to a hospital!" Tricia said, running over, throwing the shotgun to one side.

"I don't think doctors on Earth could cope with my anatomy!" Amber said, inspecting the shard of glass protruding from her stomach. "I'll be fine; it just hurts quite a lot at the moment…"

Tricia didn't look convinced.

Amber winced as she gripped the shard and pulled slightly.

"Ok, that's a really bad idea!" Tricia stammered, "You should never remove something from a wound in case it unblocks a vein or artery or something! You'll bleed to death!"

"That's my problem," Amber said, and pulled harder on the glass, "not yours."

Tricia had to cover her eyes as the glass slowly slid out, covered in blood. Amber's hands were sliced up as she struggled to remove the embedded slice of mirror, but finally there was a clatter as the shard fell to the floor.

Amber looked down at her bleeding, shredded hands, then placed them on her lap, sighing heavily as the pain and dizziness rushed through her body. She touched her hand to her side, feeling the blood rush out between her fingers.

"So, so, what are you going to do?" Tricia asked, dancing around anxiously.

"Nothing," Amber said, "There's nothing I can do."

"But you're an alien! You must be able to do something!"

"Being alien doesn't make me invulnerable or infallible," Amber said, struggling to sit up a bit better, "I am every bit as mortal and vulnerable as you."

"Is there anything I can do?" Tricia asked, kneeling beside Amber.

"You've done enough already and I'msorry about shouting at you," Amber said with a smile, "but, if you can – could you get the Doctor?"

"I'm on it!" Tricia said, and ran off to find him as quickly as she could.

* * *

The Doctor bumped into Tricia after about five minutes of her searching. He ran with her back up to the mirror room, not quite understanding what she was saying, but getting a sense of the urgency.

He skidded round the corner, cast a quick eye over Damia's body, then turned to Amber, who was sat on the floor in a pool of blood.

"What have you done?" the Doctor asked softly, kneeling beside her, brushing her hair out of her face gently.

"I got rid of her for you," she said with a small smile, "With a little help from Tricia."

Mickey wrapped his arms around Tricia, looking horrified at the amount of blood everywhere. The Doctor looked up and smiled at Tricia, then started searching for his sonic screwdriver.

"This can cauterize wounds," he said to Amber, "It will stop the bleeding til we can get you back to the TARDIS."

Amber shook her head slightly.

"I'm not giving up on you yet!" the Doctor said, holding onto Amber's free hand, "So you're going to have to trust me."

Amber nodded slightly and let the Doctor rake her hand away from her side. For a moment the blood ran fast and freely, but as the sonic screwdriver worked its magic the flow slowed down.

"Still with me?" the Doctor asked.

"Just about," Amber croaked.

"Well, whatever you say, there is no way I'm going to let you walk – so! You're going to have to let me carry you…"

A spark of fire and defiance appeared in her eyes before she realised the Doctor was probably right and that there was no way she was going to get to the TARDIS by herself.

Right on cue, Jack and Rose appeared, followed closely by Harriet and Jackie.

After the obligatory protest, Amber allowed herself to be carried out of the building by a more than willing Jack. She even rested her head against his chest, watching as the Doctor and Rose set the bombs off all around the building, blowing it sky high. The company headed back to the TARDIS with a backdrop of fire and sirens.

* * *

The Doctor used supplies from somewhere in the TARDIS to put Amber in a more stable condition. Rose and Harriet helped her clean up a little, and Rose even lent her a big fluffy dressing gown that would be more comfortable to wear and wouldn't require the effort of Amber maintaining transformed clothes. Jackie and Tricia did what they did best and made plenty of coffee all round.

"See what I mean?" the Doctor said as Tricia handed him a drink, "the best team in the world!"

"Besides me letting the side down," Amber said, struggling to sit up a little more in a chair the Doctor and Mickey had carried out to the console room for her.

"You did nothing of the sort!" the Doctor said, "Though I would like to know what that was all about…"

"Damia and I never got along," Amber said through gritted teeth, "I knew her from the assassin's academy, and I put up with her because she was useful, but she seemed to get the idea I was her pet, and when I stopped playing she got annoyed and tried to kill me. I wasn't going to let her get away with that and grabbed the nearest thing I could use to defend myself, which happened to be a high-powered acid jet. I didn't plan it, it was just pure survival instinct. Do you believe me?"

"Yes," the Doctor said.

"Good," Amber said, "Because I would be pretty stuck if you didn't."

Rose hugged Mickey, Tricia, even Harriet, then finally her Mum.

"When will you next be visiting?" Jackie asked.

"I dunno," Rose said, shrugging her shoulders, "Whenever really, we do have a time machine."

"A time machine that's always late!" Jackie said, glaring at the Doctor.

"I'd like to see you try to fly the TARDIS!" the Doctor retorted.

"Ok, enough!" Rose said, "will you two ever get along?"

"No," Jackie and the Doctor said together.

"But you seem to have so much in common," Harriet said, earning her a glare from both the Doctor and Jackie, "or perhaps not…"

Jack grinned.

"Well, isn't this nice?" he said, "the Doctor finally does domestic – and all for you Rose, I hope you appreciate that!"

"And just what are you implying, mister?" Jackie demanded.

Jack gave her a heart melting smile.

"Nothing you don't already suspect sweetheart."

"Ok, stop sweet talking my Mother," Rose said, shoving Jack as she walked towards the Doctor.

Two hours later and they had said their good byes andwere off again, ready for their next grand adventure (though they would be taking a week off to give Amber a chance to recover).

"Feel better?" the Doctor asked Rose.

"Well, I've had dinner with the Prime Minister, fought a few robots from the future, blown up a building, made up with my ex-boyfriend… yeah, I feel great!"

"All in a day's work," the Doctor said.

* * *

And that's the end of this one, but not the end of the series! look out for 'The Twilight Thief' coming soon!

If you go to geocitiesand add '/sirensongirl/twilightthief.jpg' to the end of the webaddress, you should (should lol) get a picture preview of the next episode. I would just type the link out but it doesn't show up for some reason... dunno why...

Thanks for all the reviews, you guys are great! hope you carry on reading! occulmagic xx


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